


Replacement Dragon

by akapolarbear



Category: Final Fantasy V
Genre: Alcohol, Faris is a sad drunk, Fluff and Angst, Gen, funny title, not funny story
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-12
Updated: 2016-04-12
Packaged: 2018-06-01 19:37:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,574
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6533674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/akapolarbear/pseuds/akapolarbear
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Faris needs a new first mate after Syldra passes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Replacement Dragon

After the tragedy that had been the sinking of the Walse Tower, there was a unanimous agreement among the party to make camp on the beach for the night. Or, an almost unanimous agreement, at any rate. After the incident, Faris had been moody and unwilling to talk to any of them. Any attempt at interaction with the captain only led to receiving a look of silent fury and the cold shoulder. So rather than having her opinion weigh in to the situation, they merely informed her to their agreed decision and hoped she wouldn’t wander off and abandon them in the middle of the night.

Lenna had actually wanted to try and console Faris, but Bartz and Galuf both quickly pulled her back when she made to move. Bartz had told the princess it was probably best just to wait for Faris to come back to them on her own terms, but in reality, he was mostly just worried what Faris might do. After all, when they had tried to steal Faris’ ship, she threw them all in the brig; if that’s how she acted after nearly losing her ship, who knew how badly she would react to being annoyed after losing what she had described as her _sister_?

They started themselves a fire to dry themselves off – Bartz noticed they were barely a week into this journey and this was the second time they had gotten soaked to the bone – and he had pitched a tent all by himself – he figured trying to ask a princess to do manual labor for him was rude, and when he had tried to ask Galuf for a hand, the old man suddenly made a big show of his back seizing up. Bartz decided not to point out that he had been fine just two minutes ago, figuring that trying to fight with him was a losing battle.

Once camp was all set up, the three of them huddled around the fire and started making basic conversation, trying to ignore the elephant in the room that was Faris’ overwhelming depression. Said pirate was a ways down the shoreline, sitting on the beach, staring out into the darkened waves that would rhythmically lap onto the sand, and every now and again taking a swig from a silver flask that she always had on her person. Bartz didn’t have to be a genius to realize that it probably wasn’t juice she was drinking.

Lenna, on the other hand, must not have realized the implications of Faris’ behavior. At various points during the conversation – which was almost wholly consisted of Bartz telling campfire stories about his travels – she would try to duck out momentarily for various reasons that always amounted to having to talk to Faris about something or other.

First, it was that maybe they should invite her over to warm herself by the fire as well; Galuf was quick to point out that she was stubborn as a mule and even if she _wasn’t_ in a foul mood, she’d still be reluctant to come over out of refusal to show any kind of weakness. Next, it was that maybe Lenna should go over and offer her some fresh water to be nice; Bartz stopped her and assured her that from the looks of it, Faris had _plenty_ to drink. Past that point, any time Lenna opened her mouth, Bartz would stop mid-story, and cut her off with, “…and no, Lenna, I don’t think Faris needs anything from us right now.”

Then, just when Bartz was getting to the good bit with how he and Boko once managed to outrun an entire pack of wild wolves, he paused himself at the sound of shuffling sand. At first, he thought that Lenna was trying to be sneaky this time, inching away without saying anything, but one glance at her proved that she hadn’t moved since her last interruption. Rather, he noticed with a look towards the distance, Faris had finally decided she was ready to rejoin them. “Hey, Faris,” he called out with a grin, “just in time! I was just getting to the part where me and Boko–”

She unceremoniously cut him off with a shove to the side and mumbled, “Piss off.” Bartz yelped at the unexpected push and landed right next to Galuf, who was trying – and failing – to stifle his laughter at the poor boy’s expense. He had half a mind to really give the old man something to laugh at, but dropped the thought when he remembered that bullying the elderly was wrong. He was just about to turn his attack on the real offender – who had not only pushed him aside like an undesirable, but also interrupted his story right at the best part – until he actually managed to get a good look at Faris.

Bartz took note of the way she dragged her feet through the sand, even though he had never seen Faris drag her feet through anything. He observed how she stumbled and threw herself down at Lenna’s side, closer than he had ever seen Faris ever get to anyone willingly. That, combined with the fact that the air of the campsite now smelled faintly like the pub of Tule, was enough for Bartz to put the pieces together. “Uh, Faris…?”

Lenna had clearly noticed the difference in Faris’ behavior as well, judging by how her nose wrinkled and she slid away from the pirate politely – or maybe that was just her reaction to the smell, Bartz couldn’t be completely sure. “Um…hello, Faris.” She tried starting conversation, albeit hesitantly, because while it was the right thing to do, Lenna was still unsure of what kind of mood Faris would be in, especially considering her current…situation.

If Faris had taken note of the delay in Lenna’s voice, she didn’t bring attention to it. Rather, she grabbed hold of Lenna’s shoulders suddenly, clinging to her like she was a lifeline. “Lenna…” she breathed huskily before giving a long pause, like she had forgotten what she was going to say. After a few seconds staring into her eyes, Faris shook her head in a daze, knocking a few strands of hair loose from behind her headband, and continued, “I…I need t’ talk t’ ya.”

Lenna blinked, waiting for Faris to continue. When she didn’t, the younger girl slowly nodded encouragingly, placing her hand on Faris’ arm for good measure. “Yes, I’m listening. What is it?”

“Y’see…ever since I was a lad…” Faris mumbled, casting her eyes downward, “Syldra…was there with me. She was like a sister t’ me; best sister I could ever ask fer! But now…” Once again, she stopped. Lenna paused for her, but Faris didn’t finish. Then, just when she was about to urge Faris on again, the pirate captain looked up, dead into Lenna’s eyes. “Syldra’s gone. She’s gone…an’ ‘m never gonna see ‘er again.”

Faris then gave out, leaning on Lenna with full force, her arm draped over the smaller girl’s shoulders like a cape. Lenna, not expecting the sudden dead weight, stumbled slightly, but managed to catch herself on the sand. She sent a quick look towards Galuf and Bartz, who watched the situation play out with a mixture of confusion and amusement. Upon noticing the wordless plea, they glanced from her, to the intoxicated pirate leaning into her shoulder, to each other, before both shaking their heads in refusal to her call. As far as they were concerned, babysitting Faris wasn’t their problem, especially when she had so clearly chosen to bestow the responsibility on Lenna herself.

Lenna rolled her eyes in exasperation, an irritated frown tugging at the corner of her lips. So much for asking the men for help, she supposed. Now realizing she was completely on her own in this situation, she began lightly patting Faris on the back, awkwardly at first, before beginning to rub soothing circles between the woman’s shoulder blades. “…I’m very sorry about your loss, Faris. I…I know she meant a lot to you.”

Faris’ head then shot up from where it previously laid on Lenna’s shoulder, not even responding to Lenna’s attempt at making her feel better. “O’ course…I know Syldra, she’d want me t’ keep going…fer ‘er. She’d want me t’…” – her face fell as she choked out the rest of her sentence – “…t’ move on.” There was another long drawn out pause, and for a moment, it looked like she might even get reduced to tears. She shook her head miserably, turning to look at Lenna with sad green eyes. “But fer ‘s long as I can remember, ‘s always been th’ two a’ us. Faris an’ Syldra. Syldra an’ Faris! Bes’ two pirates t’ sail th’ seven seas!” After that proud declaration, she almost immediately deflated again. “So…without Syldra…I can’t be Faris anymore. What’s a proud pirate cap’n without his loyal firs’ mate?”

Lenna nodded uncertainly, not fully understanding the pirate’s logic, but not willing to try and refute it. Something told her that trying to debate logic with someone under the effects of heavy intoxication wasn’t the best idea. “Alright, but…” She shook her head, one thing in particular not making sense to her, “why are you telling me all this, Faris?” It wasn’t that she didn’t want to help Faris; quite the opposite. In fact, if her hunch about the older woman was true, then she wanted nothing _but_ to help her. It was more a matter of being confused over why Faris had come to _her_ with this information, rather than Galuf, or Bartz, who she had seemed to grow particularly buddy-buddy with over the past week.

Faris responded to the question by pulling Lenna in tighter and gazing deeply into her eyes. “Don’t y’ geddit, Lenna?” She leaned in closer, eyes not once leaving Lenna’s, looking like she was about to pass on some information of grave importance when she whispered hoarsely, “…I need ye t’ be my sea dragon now.”

At that statement, a dead silence settled into the air. The only noises to be heard were the lapping of the waves on the shore and the crackling embers of the fire. Suddenly, there was the sound of moving sand as Galuf rose from his seat on the beach, shaking his head. “I, ah…” he stifled a snort, glancing away from the two women in front of him, “think I’m gonna turn in for the night. Bit too late for these old bones to be up and about, if you know what I mean!” With that, he turned on his heel without another word, breaking into a silent chuckle fit the second he did.

Bartz watched the old man go and suddenly stood up, not even a minute after Galuf had already left. “You know, uh, I think I’m gonna hit the hay too.” He stretched exaggeratedly with a fake yawn. “Big day tomorrow and all that, lots to do!” He gave one last side glance to Lenna before shrugging apologetically. “Sorry about the story, Lenna; guess we’re gonna have to finish it some other time, huh?”

Lenna watched as the two men wandered off towards the tent, snickering to each other immaturely, leaving her to deal with her predicament alone. She almost called out after them, but caught herself upon noticing that Faris was still waiting for a response to her proposal. Deciding that she could deal with those two later, the princess turned back to Faris, nearly at a loss for words. Honesty was the best policy, she supposed, and she just came out with her true thoughts. “Faris, I…I don’t understand. What are you _talking_ about?”

Lenna thought that the fact that she didn’t comprehend what Faris was trying to say would have taken some wind out of the pirate’s sails, no pun intended. But instead, Faris continued, even more enthusiastic about whatever it was she was talking about than before. “Come with me.” Lenna didn’t even have the chance to ask _where_ when she went on to say, “Once this whole savin’ th’ world business ‘s over…come with me. On m’ ship. Th’ two ‘a us’ll be notorious: Cap’n Faris Scherwiz and Firs’ Mate Lenna ‘a Tycoon, most fearsome pirates t’ plunder th’ seas!”

Faris made it sound so simple, just dropping everything for a life on the sea without a care, Lenna almost found herself actually considering the idea. But no, as a princess, she couldn’t possibly. She had royal responsibilities to attend to, and… “What about my father? You would take me away from him?” The thought of having to live with being allowed to see her father again was enough to turn her off of Faris’ proposition completely.

Faris hesitated as if she had forgotten that, oh, yes, Lenna _did_ have a life before this journey had started. “We could…work out an arrangement.” She stumbled over her words, unsure at first, but the more she laid out the plan, the more convinced of its success she became. “Yeah, I can make a compr’mise with th’ king. Six months ‘a th’ year, y’ can be Princess Lenna, daughter of King Tycoon, an’ the rest, y’ can be pirate Lenna, trusty sea dragon of Cap’n Faris!” There was a short pause in her speech. “…It’ll all work out, trust me.”

She looked so _hopeful_ , Lenna wanted to believe her. She started to feel bad that she was inevitably going to have to tell her no. “Faris, I…”

She found herself struggling to get the words out, because while the plan _was_ ridiculous, Lenna honestly did want to spend more time with Faris, now more than ever. As she mentally floundered to find the right words, a silence settled between them. Then, before she could properly process the words she wanted to say, Faris’ hands dropped from her shoulders and instead took hold of Lenna’s. That simple gesture was enough to bring Lenna’s thought processes to a grinding halt, and Faris broke the silence. “If y’ come with me, nothin’ ‘ll ever hurt ye. Not while I’m around.” Suddenly, Faris had dropped Lenna’s hands and her arms were around her, pulling her in against her body. They were _hugging_. Faris’ voice was then in her ear, “I already lost m’ one dragon; I won’t lose another. I’ll keep y’ safe. I promise.”

Lenna’s body went rigid and all of her thoughts disappeared after that. After that moment, she wondered, really, what was the harm of agreeing? Faris wouldn’t possibly remember this in the morning, and Lenna couldn’t bring herself to ruin the moment. Her muscles loosened and she slowly brought her arms around Faris’ waist, as if moving too fast would cause this single moment in time to shatter completely.

“Very well…Captain.”

* * *

 

The next morning, when Bartz found them both asleep on the sand, Faris’ frame curled protectively around hers with an arm hooked around her waist, Lenna was disappointed. When Faris awoke, almost immediately recoiling away as if the princess had struck her, albeit with a hint of red brush across the bridge of her nose, Lenna was crushed. In that moment, she was once again Princess Lenna Charlotte Tycoon, sole heir to the throne of Tycoon, and First Mate Lenna the pirate, second only to Captain Faris Scherwiz, was just a faded memory, a dream never to come true.

**Author's Note:**

> You know, this story was originally going to be just pure humor. Except then I made Faris a sad pirate and it somehow led to cuddling. Go figure.


End file.
